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New Indian envoy Riva Ganguly takes up her assignment

 

Human Rights Report
Newly appointed Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das calls on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her Sangsad Bhaban office on Sunday, March 10, 2019. Photo: PID
Riva Ganguly Das has taken up her assignment as the High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh. Prior to her arrival here on March 1, she was the Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
On March 10, the newly appointed Indian High Commissioner met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and said both countries have the scope to open new windows for cooperation.
The Indian envoy termed Bangladesh one of the important countries and development partners of her country.
Riva said the cooperation between the two neighbouring countries will continue on a win-win situation.
Talking about enhancing connectivity in the region, Riva said this will bring economic prosperity for all the countries of the region.
A career-diplomat, Riva Ganguly who speaks Bengali, Hindi, English and Spanish, joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1986 and is a Post Graduate in Political Science from Delhi University.







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BHRC & IHRC Human Rights Report on March 2019 in Bangladesh

Total 152 persons killed in March 2019

Human Rights Report:

The documentation section of Bangladesh Human Rights Commission (BHRC) and International Human Rights Commission-IHRC jointly furnished this human rights survey report on the basis of daily newspapers and information received from its district, sub-district and municipal branches. As per survey it appears that 152 peoples were killed in March, 2019 in all over the country. It proves that the law and order situation is not satisfactory. Bangladesh Human Rights Commissions extremely anxious about this situation. In the month of March, 2019 average 5 people were killed in each day.
The Law enforcing agencies and related Govt. departments should be more responsible so that percentage of killing March be brought down to zero level. To institutionalize the democracy and to build human rights based society the rule of law and order must be established everywhere. Through enforcing rule of law only such violation against human rights can be minimized.
It appears from documentation division of BHRC:
Total 152 people's killed March, 2019
Killing for dowry 3 , killing by family violence 21, Killed due to social discrepancy 37, Political killing 11, Killed by Law enforcing authority 30, Killed due to BSF 2, Killed due to doctor negligence 2, Abduction 7, Assassination 9, Mysterious death 24, Women & Chilled killed due to rape 6.
Killed by several accidents: Killed by road accident 272, Suicide 11.
Besides victims of torture:
Rape 27, Sexual Harassment 7, Torture for Dowry 5, Acid throwing 2.



 

High Court seeks detailed reports on unfit vehicles 

Human Rights Report:
The High Court on Wednesday asked the concerned authorities to submit a detailed report within April 30 on unfit vehicles plying on the roads across the country and drivers without a valid license.
The Chairman of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), Inspector General of Police (IGP), Deputy Commissioner of Traffic Police of Dhaka (North and South) and the director of BRTA's Road Safety Department were asked to submit the report.
The court also asked why the fitness certificates of the vehicles are not renewed timely and how many transport's registrations and driving licenses are pending for renewal.
A bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice KM Hafizul Alam passed the order on a suo moto (voluntary) move following a report published in an English daily on 23rd March with the headline "No fitness docs, yet running".
Supreme Court lawyer Syed Mamun Mahmud brought the report before the court.
The court issued a rule seeking an explanation as to why the failure and inactiveness of the concerned authorities to stop plying of vehicles without fitness and registration should not be declared illegal.
The rule also sought an explanation as to why the Motor Vehicles Ordinance-1983 and related rules should not be followed strictly.
The secretaries to Road Transport and Bridges Ministry and Home Ministry, Inspector General of Police, BRTA chairman were asked to respond to the rule in four weeks.. .


 

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Mamata Banerjee offers to mediate to solve Kashmir problem

 

Human Rights Report:

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee claims she can solve the Kashmir problem. "Send me to Kashmir. I will stay there for a few months and try to solve the problem," the West Bengal chief minister said in Kolkata on Wednesday.
As the Valley continues to be a vexed question defying solution for decades, Miss Banerjee claims to have the answer to the Kashmir problem and the ability to bring peace.
Miss Banerjee held out her prescription for Kashmir when she was asked whether the Kashmir tangle figured in the Trinamool manifesto for the Lok Sabha poll released during the day. She immediately responded to the question and said "after the change of the government at the Centre" if leaders of Mahagathbandhan want, she can initiate a move to "resolve the Kashmir problem."
"Peace and harmony should be restored in Kashmir at any  cost. If the leaders want, they can send me to Kashmir. I don't want any chair for that. I'll stay in Kashmir for a few months and will try to end the impasse by taking women, youth and students into confidence," she said, report The Statesman.
When asked whether it was possible to restore peace in Kashmir valley, Mamata Banerjee iterated : "Nothiing is impossible. If you have the political will, you can restore peace in the Valley. "
"People never believed that peace can return to Junglemahal. But I've taken the people into confidence, initiated different development projects and distributed rice at Rs 2 per kg through public distribution system. I restored peace in Junglemahal," Miss Banerjee said, adding : "In Darjeeling I first went there as railway minister and initiated dialogues with the then GJMM leaders. Later, I visited the hills many times, created development boards and finally restored peace by launching development programmes and forming the district of Kalimpong."



 

 

International Women's Day 

Human Rights Report:

Celebrating the women of Bangladesh: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a photosession with the sucessful women of different sectors at the inaugural function of the International Women's Day in Dhaka. Photo - PID
Every public document and those of UN agencies proclaim loudly that there would not be any discrimination between but men and women but in the in real world the discrimination continues in many fields. Of all the discriminations, the gender-based one is most obvious and widespread. To attract the attention of all across the world, International Day of Women is observed to sensitize the people of all gender to achieve equality in status.
The theme for International Women's Day (8 March) this year, "Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change", puts innovation by women and girls, for women and girls, at the heart of efforts to achieve gender equality.
Achieving a gender-equal world requires social innovations that work for both women and men and leave no one behind. From urban planning that focuses on community safety to e-learning platforms that take classrooms to women and girls, affordable and quality childcare centres, and technology shaped by women, innovation can take the race for gender equality to its finishing line by 2030 has been the aim of International Women's Day.
It begins with making sure that women's and girls' needs and experiences are integrated at the very inception of technology and innovations. It means building smart solutions that go beyond acknowledging the gender gaps to addressing the needs of men and women equally. And ultimately, it needs innovations that disrupt business as usual, paying attention to how and by whom technology is used and accessed, and ensuring that women and girls play a decisive role in emerging industries.
It all started after the Socialist Party of America organized a Women's Day on February 28, 1909, in New York, the 1910 International Socialist Woman's Conference suggested a Women's Day be held annually. After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, March 8 became a national holiday there. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted by the feminist movement in about 1967. The United Nations began celebrating the day in 1975.
 
 

Saudi court resumes trial of 'tortured' women's rights activists
 

Human Rights Report:
A Saudi court on Wednesday resumed the trial of prominent women activists facing charges related to their human rights work and contacts with foreign journalists and diplomats, in a case that has sharpened international criticism of the kingdom.
The women, including rights campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul, university professor Hatoon al-Fassi and blogger Eman al-Nafjan,
were expected to respond to the charges, including some that rights groups say fall under an article of the kingdom's cybercrime law stipulating jail sentences of up to five years. Diplomats and media were denied entry to the hearing and escorted from the building, despite petitioning the authorities to attend amid global scrutiny of the case, the Reuters news agency reported.
Three dozen countries, including all 28 EU members, Canada and Australia, have called on Riyadh to free the activists. Nine prominent US senators wrote a public letter last week asking King Salman for the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners held on "dubious charges related to their activism," citing many of the women currently on trial. Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that a covert Saudi death squad that Middle East Eye exposed in October had been involved in the detention and abuse of the activists who were detained last spring and summer.
The squad is reported to have operated under the guidance and supervision of Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, who the CIA believes ordered the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year. Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post and Middle East Eye, was killed by the unit, known as the Tiger Squad, in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. The death of Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi government, has severely tarnished the reputation of the crown prince who Saudi officials deny ordered the murder.

Major parties ignore children in their election manifestos

Both political parties and alliances are very vote focused in their manifesto which is power. And that is why all attention is being paid to the adult voters. Not surprisingly, after years of advocacy, it's obvious that political parties are not very moved by the state of what has been promised and kept as far as children are concerned.
Although , Bangladesh has been "chided" at the UN Child Right Committee for the last five years for failing to finish the agenda promised, political parties that is current and future governments have not recognized children as priorities as per their electoral declarations. While Bangladesh has been quick to sign the dotted lines on many international protocols, they have been less active in keeping the commitments made on the same page.
Bangladesh has certainly made progress but the progress has always been measured in aggregate data and doesn't show how it affects two very vulnerable groups, women and children. While it's true that parties have made promises on improving the life of adult women, fact remains, one of the most at bay group are adolescent girls who suffer from some of the most difficult lives in Bangladesh compared to what has been possible to achieve. And Bangladesh is failing them.
Some major concerns
Some major issues have been pointed out by many agencies which fail to make any media noise. Malnutrition, early marriage and access to rights to education are safety are key issues that has been lost in the electoral noise.


 

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